1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to hand-held power jig saws having an attached shoe for engaging the workpiece to be cut.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Hand-held power jig saws of the type having one-piece, all-metal shoes are known in the art. In some of these conventional jig saws, the shoe can be selectively tilted relative to the saw housing to provide angled cuts. Typically, the shoes are made of steel sheet metal which is costly to form in the smooth, burr-free condition that is required to prevent scratching and marring of the workpiece surface. Moreover, the all-metal construction adds significant weight to the overall saw assembly making extended operation tiring for the operator.
It is also known to make one-piece, all metal shoes with a narrow blade-receiving recess at one end and a relatively wide recess at the other. This conventional shoe is "reversible" in that it can be rotated 180 degrees to position the narrow recess to cooperate with the saw blade to reduce splintering of the workpiece, when making straight cuts. The wider recess is used whenever a "scrolling" cutting operation is required or cutting at angle is desired.
However, rotation of the two-recess one-piece shoe usually involves loosening of the shoe-housing mounting connection and can disrupt the tilt angle setting of the shoe. In such cases where the shoe also is "tiltable" relative to the housing, the angle must be reset after each change to a different blade-receiving recess.
Typical hand-held powered jig saws generally use a fan-cooled electric motor contained within the saw housing to provide reciprocation of the saw blade. In some prior art jig saws the exhaust port for the cooling air is positioned in the forward portion of the housing and directs the exhaust air to clear debris from the cutting location. However, with this arrangement the debris is blown directly forward of the cutting location and has a tendency to accumulate in the cutting path and obscure the cutting line. Also, different tilt angle positions may diminish the effectiveness of debris-clearing air streams emanating directly from the housing.
Consequently, it is an object of the present invention to provide a jig saw and shoe attachment that overcomes one or more of the afore-mentioned deficiencies in prior art devices.